The original Paranormal Activity was a great revisionist horror. Adapting Val Lewton’s classic less is more philosophy, the film dealt in suspense rather than cheap pay-offs, in drama rather than violence and in fear rather than gore. In short, it worked because the audience cared about the characters and didn’t know what was coming next. Wanna take a guess at why the sequel fails?

Inspired by the best-selling video games series (a sentence that always puts fear into our hearts), Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is a rollicking escapade which marries gorgeous Moroccan locations with state-of-the-art visual effects. The time-bending storyline of Mike Newell’s big budget adventure incorporates a romantic subplot, presumably to appeal to female audiences who might otherwise give this testosterone-heavy romp a wide berth.

A young woman faces a terrifying ordeal in J Blakeson’s accomplished feature directorial debut. The Disappearance Of Alice Creed is an edge of seat thriller that by its simple design – three characters trapped predominantly in one location – could easily have started life on the stage. The intimacy of the set-up works in the film’s favour, forcing Blakeson to develop his protagonists to sustain our interest and the dramatic momentum.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a magical car with more sass than KITT and more aplomb than Herbie – it’s the best magical car by far. This heartwarmingly anarchic musical is now available to buy as a Blu-Ray DVD combo set – ideal to bring colour and vitality to a wet Sunday afternoon.

Another short-cartoon series from the people at Adult Swim, Metalocalypse is just as odd as you might expect. Playing like This Is Spinal Tap crossed with the most violent comic book you’ve ever read, it is simultaneously a celebration and send-up of heavy metal culture. Utilising an approach that is both daft and darker than coal, the series showcases not just the idiocy of its protagonists – petulant death metal band, Dethklok – but also the widest array of horrific concepts you’re ever likely to see. What’s worse; a man who eats live babies, or an irresponsible metal band running amok? Watching this DVD may be the only way to find out.

As Movember approaches, gentlemen everywhere will be seeking to adorn their upper lip with a moustache to rival all others. Essex boy and naysayer David Hill was resolutely clean-shaven… Until he decided, pretty much on a whim, to enter the 2007 World Moustache And Beard Championship. Follow his amazing journey into a world where the moustache does indeed make the man.

Echoing the real-life horrors of Guantanamo Bay, The Good Soldier follows the progression of Sean Roberts as he’s promoted from soldier to interrogator in a hypothetical British civil war. Will he make the ultimate sacrifice in order to become the stone-cold interrogator the military wants him to be?

We know, we know. You loved Let The Right One In, and you’re sick of Hollywood rehashing every good Swedish film ever made, so you’re not going to bother seeing Let Me In even though you liked Chloe Moretz in Kick-Ass. STOP RIGHT THERE. A faithful remake enlivened by sensitive direction and some truly extraordinary performances, this is a film which stands squarely on its own two blood-spattered feet.

At the invitation of the Swedenborg Society, Best For Film is publishing a special series of reviews to follow its ‘Images of the Afterlife in Cinema’ film season, which will be exploring life, death and everything in between. This week we take a look at what happens when there’s a mix up in heaven in A Matter of Life and Death.

At the invitation of the Swedenborg Society, Best For Film is publishing a special series of reviews to follow its ‘Images of the Afterlife in Cinema’ film season, which will be exploring life, death and everything in between. This week things have been getting distinctly non-triumphant for the rock gods of 1991 San Dimas – Bill S Preston Esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan.